Dealers Search for Inventory Following Years of Oversupply

February 26, 2004 6:00 AM, EST

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n recent weeks, Steve Nadolson, used truck manager at Nashville Peterbilt in Antioch, Tenn., said he has been “inundated” with calls from people looking to buy used trucks. “I get 10 a day,” he said. “I’m running ads that say, ‘I buy trucks. I pay the highest trade.’”

Rusty Fleming, a wholesale truck dealer in Dallas, said he’s getting two kinds of calls lately — one is from dealers looking to fill a truck order; the other is for five or 10 trucks to put on the lot.

“When you start seeing dealers buying for inventory, that’s a good thing,” Fleming said. “Dealers are buying for inventory.”

After enduring several years of oversupply and falling prices, used-truck dealers finally have something to cheer about. De-mand for late-model, low-mileage Class 8 trucks is strong, inventories are shrinking and prices are rising.

For the full story, see the Feb. 23 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.